The Rocky River Station is the powerhouse for the first pumped storage hydroelectric project built in the USA. It opened in 1929, and continues to generate as much as a modest 29 megawatts to this day (mostly from one more modern turbine). Two of the plant’s three generators can reverse, to pump water from the Housatonic River up to a reservoir called Candlewood Lake, located 200 feet above the river’s elevation, via a 1,000-foot-long, 15-foot-wide pipe. Candlewood Lake was built between 1926 and 1928. Dams had to be constructed and 4,500 acres of trees were cleared to create the basin, which covers eight square miles. Hundreds of people, living and dead, were relocated, including 35 families in the small town of Jerusalem. When the Rocky River Station started pumping water into the basin it created the largest lake in Connecticut. Today the lake is a popular recreation site, and is lined with private property and homes.
